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Going to a Festival this summer? Use this Packing List to avoid Single-use Plastic

Every summer millions of people attend British festivals enjoying some of the best live music in the world. However at the same time, a huge amount of plastic waste is being left behind every year. The festivals are starting to take notice themselves with events such as Glastonbury stopping the sale of single-use plastic water bottles. With more and more festivals abandoning single-use plastic products we’ve created a packing list to help you avoid contributing towards the world’s plastic pollution problem. Not wishing to ruin your festival budgeting, if having read this and want to get your own Water-to-Go bottle then please use the discount code FESTIVAL19 for a 19% saving at the checkout.

Overnight Festival Tent

Unless you’re a day-ticket holder, this will be one of your most important items during your time at the festival. This is in a way your home during the festival after all.

Your tent needs will largely depend on how many people you are going with. If you’re travelling with just 2 or three in total you may want to go with your own individual tents or a double and single tent. However, if you’re travelling in a larger group it makes more sense to get yourself one larger tent, which can include your own section if you want some privacy. Gooutdoors.co.uk provide a wide range of festival tents so you will almost certainly be able to find the right tent for you on their website.

Don’t Leave your Tent Behind

Believe it or not, single-use tents seem to be a trend that’s been occurring at many festivals in recent years, especially at the larger festivals. Many festival-goers abandon their tents after the event has finished often due to the fact they think the tents will go to charity or homeless people, according to a recent article by the Telegraph. However, most of the time this isn’t the case and your plastic tent will end up in landfill.

If you’re heading to a #festival this summer, listen to these words from Emily Ford of @BoomtownFair . Your discarded tents will probably end up as landfill.

Although we accept you may be a bit worse for wear on that morning! it’s better to pack up your tents rather than leaving them for landfill and adding to the world’s plastic pollution problem.

Water-to-Go Filter Bottle

Whilst your out in the sun all day it will be essential to stay hydrated throughout the day, especially with the effects of alcohol as well! Carrying a reusable water bottle is a great way to stay hydrated whilst you’re on the go.

The Water-to-Go filter bottles have been tested and proved to filter out over 99.9% of all microbiological contaminants as well as chemicals and heavy metals. This means the bottles are great for festivals as you will be able to fill up from any tap around the venue and have complete confidence that you won’t catch any illness.

Water-to-Go Filter Bottles save you Time and Plastic

Firstly you’ll be saving on your plastic usage as you won’t be forced to buy single-use plastic water bottles. Instead, you can fill from any tap or even puddle and get clean safe drinking water instantly. Secondly, you won’t be waiting in line for ages waiting to buy bottled water or fill up your bottle from the bar.

A Reusable glass for your Alcoholic Drinks

Whilst the Water-to-Go Bottles are able to filter any non-salt water source, they haven’t cracked water into wine yet! However, this does give you another chance to avoid more unnecessary single-use plastic. Bringing a reusable metallic glass means you can get your beers in without having to discard a plastic cup every time you want a drink. I’d make sure to give your glass a wash fairly regularly though.

Bring Your Own Reusable Cutlery

Plastic Cutlery is something that has become common in many takeaway shops and food stalls, and is just another form of unnecessary single-use plastic. A fairly new concept of portable, reusable cutlery is something that can help in preventing the need for knives and forks made from single-use plastic.

These generally come as a cutlery set of knife, fork and spoon with a case so that they are easy to carry around. You can also add a straw to your non-plastic cutlery set to avoid having to discard plastic ones. This could be a good idea as whilst paper straws are starting to become more popularly used, most places still use the single-use plastic straw.

Wellie Boots in case of Bad Weather

Based on the unpredictability of the British weather, bringing a pair of wellie boots can become extremely useful. You should think carefully about your footwear no matter the weather, however being stuck in a field with a brand new pair of trainers will only end badly, especially if it’s chucking it down. Even if they don’t get any use during the festival, it’s worth bringing a pair just in case.

Sleeping Bag

Sleeping bags are a great way to combat the potentially cold nights in your tent. This should keep you warm throughout the night, and some sleeping bags come with a zip feature that allows you to use the items as more of a blanket if it does get too hot.

Air bed or Sleeping Matt

To go along with your sleeping bag, you’ll want some form of comfy, tempory bedding. Whilst you’ll already have your sleeping bag it’s going to be pretty uncomfortable to just sleep in that, so we’d recommend bringing either an Air bed or sleeping matt with you as well.

You’ll need all the energy you can get during your festival, so making sure you get as good a night’s sleep as possible will be very important.

Portable Battery Charger for your Phone

Keeping your phone charged during a festival can be a real challenge, especially for those staying over at least one night. There may be some festivals which have charging stations however, it’s probably more convenient to bring a portable charger, especially for evenings at your campsite.

Power Traveller make an excellent solar-powered portable charger. This means you won’t have to find a power socket if you are in need of even more charge. The charger itself is also pretty light in weight so will be convenient for you to carry with you during the day. The use of solar energy also means you can help reduce your carbon footprint during the festival as you will be avoiding non-renewable sources of electricity.

Plastic Free Toiletries

You’ll need to keep fresh and clean over the course of the festival, especially if you’re staying over at least one night. One of the bigger challenges in going single-use plastic free is when you’re putting together your toiletries for the festival. It can be very difficult to find items like sun cream, wet wipes and shampoo without having to buy some form of plastic.

However, there are still some alternatives available, so you can avoid unnecessary plastic in your toiletries bag.

Reduce your Plastic with a Bamboo Toothbrush

It can be difficult to avoid plastic when you’re compiling your toiletries for the festival although there are some plastic alternatives out there. One great way to avoid buying plastic is to get a bamboo toothbrush. Anything But Plastic makes a brilliant bamboo toothbrush which is far more environmentally friendly than the usual plastic toothbrush.

Bring a Flannel instead of Disposable Wet Wipes

Getting yourself a reusable flannel (face towel) is a great alternative to bringing a pack of wet wipes. You’ll be reducing your waste as you won’t be having to throw anything away after just one use, plus if you find the right company, you won’t have to buy any plastic packaging that will eventually also be thrown away.

Replace Shower Gel with a Bar of Soap

Another replaceable in your toiletry set is your shower gel. Instead of buying shower gel in a plastic container that will eventually be thrown away, you can swap it for a bar of soap which, in many cases, will come without any plastic packaging.

Another interesting development is ‘Naked shower gel’. Lush has developed a solid shower gel that comes without any plastic packaging. Whilst it may look more like a bar of soap, the actual ingredients used to make the product itself is not made from a soap base, and instead uses similar ingredients to their shower gel range.

Plastic Packaging Alternatives

Following on from Lush’s ‘Naked shower gel’, many companies are starting to find creative alternatives to traditional plastic packaging. Similar to this is a shampoo that is packaging free and simply comes in cubes that you can use straight away to wash your hair. So make sure to keep an eye out for new developments that are able to cut out single-use plastic.

A Bum Bag for your Valuables

Also known as the ‘Fanny Pack’ this is a great item for carrying your things around during the day, without having to lug a backpack around with you. This item is becoming more and more popular with festival goers due to its convenience, and with a wide range of designs, you should be able to find one that looks good as well.

It’s also a great way to keep valuables you may be carrying, such as your phone or money, safe. It’ll be important to keep these items safe and secure as there is a strong chance they would fall out of your pockets during the day.

Festival Essentials

It may seem obvious but make sure to bring the essential bits and bobs you’ll need to actually get into your festival. These include things like your festival ticket, ID, money or cards and any transport/ parking documents.